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And what if it is not up for negotiation? What if the school district is the best or all the bedrooms are filled with children?
"If you are already living
beyond your means, you have no choice: You have to increase your means,"
he says.
In fact, getting more money in may be easier
than letting less money flow out. So, he suggests, get a second job, freelance
some work or use a skill to do a service for friends or neighbors. "At one
point I had three jobs to support four kids," he says.
"That is how you get past the frustration of
'I can't do anymore,'" he says. "I say, 'Are you sure
you have done everything?'"
Financial
planning is not a magic pill, Filangeri warns. Many times, the problems for which
people seek out a financial planner are much larger than dollars and cents. "People
who are happier tend to live within their means," he says.
That
is what King tries to impart with voluntary simplicity. "More fun, less stuff,"
he says.
Changing every part of life
Incorporating
the choice to live simply extends to every part of life.
Biking
to work isn't going to be an option if you live 30 miles away, and heating a 3,000-square-foot
house is always going to be expensive.
"Design your life
so you don't have to spend a lot of money," King says.
The
effects often go far beyond finances. Cutting a commute will provide more family
time, and biking to work can improve your health, plus it's better for the environment.
King,
a 51-year-old engineer and one-time company executive, started a few voluntary
simplicity practices almost 20 years ago. He had five cars when he started to
eliminate driving. He added growing some food, along with some diet changes, such
as eating those backyard veggies.
He found his health improved,
and so did his finances.
King still lives in the Silicon Valley
of California and has a vacation home in the mountains. He has a cell phone and
other trappings of an average life, but he says all of the additions to his life
are carefully considered.
Most importantly, in his opinion,
there is more time for family when there is less time spent on acquiring things.
"You actually live a richer life when you cut back and
get rid of some of the clutter," he says.
These two exercises
may help curb consumption. They come from King's voluntary simplicity circle:
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